Treat Yourself for Under £10

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Photo by cottonbro

This time of year can be expensive for parents, when you’ve got kids to entertain for six week during the summer. That means that finding time for yourself, and more importantly, money for treats, isn’t always easy. Here at Pure Beauty, we know that we all sometimes need a pick-me-up, even when the budget isn’t huge. So, we’ve put together a list of five treats which cost less than a tenner, allowing you to treat yourself without feeling guilty!

Maskology Niacinamide Professional Sheet Mask – £5.95

Using a sheet mask can feel like a luxurious treat, even if it doesn’t cost a lot. This sheet mask from Maskology is infused with niacinamide for a professional-quality treatment that balances the skin, improves texture and prevents breakouts. It will also help the skin to build up keratin, ensuring it stays healthy and firm. It helps to rebuild the skin’s moisture barrier which encourages the cells to function at a higher capacity, therefore making it easier to circulate nutrients and flush out toxins.

The Sea Shed Coastal Path Soap – £5.50

We’ve all washed our hands more in the last couple of years than ever before, and as a result have realised the value of using a good quality soap. This moisturising, triple milled vegetable soap from The Sea Shed is enriched with shea butter and is made in St. Ives using a vegan friendly, sustainable formula. It makes your skin feel great, rather than drying it out like other soaps. 

GHD Detangling Comb – £8.95

Taking care of wet hair requires specific tools as hair is more breakable when it’s wet. GHD Detangling Comb is a gentle way to detangle damp hair. The wide-toothed design allows for delicate detangling on damp hair, which is fragile and more prone to damage. The professional-quality comb is heat-proof and can be used to style your hair in conjunction with other GHD heated tools. 

UpCircle Hemp and Cotton Makeup Pads – £8.99

Here at Pure Beauty, we’re huge advocates for anything which is sustainable and allows us to reduce our carbon footprint, as well as non recyclable waste, which is why we love these hemp and cotton make up pads from UpCircle. Made from 100% natural materials these triple layer pads are perfect for gently removing makeup without irritation. These reusable pads are the eco-friendly alternative to disposable cotton pads or wipes.

Voesh 4 Step Deluxe Pedi in a Box Watermelon Burst – £9.99

One of our favourite ways to pamper ourselves is with a pedicure and this kit from Voesh gives you everything you need. Enriched with key ingredients to give your feet the nutrition it needs, each product is individually packed with the right amount for a single pedicure. Each kit contains a Sea Salt Soak to detox and deodorise the feet, Sugar Scrub to gently exfoliate dead skin, a Mud Masque to deep cleanse impurities an

Sea Buckthorn Oil – Why You Need This in Your Skincare

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ageing, Aloe Vera, arthritic joint pain, Asia, bakuchiol, berries, brighten, caffeine hyaluronic acid, cellular turnover, circulation, collagen, cottonseed oil, detoxifies, doll, dryness, elasticity, Europe, fine lines, firma, fortify skin barrier, gentle, healthier, high end, hydrate, hydrated, I make seven fatty acids, impurities, inflammation, ingredients, leaves, lotions, make up, Maritime pine, nourish, pigmentation, pollution, retinoid, rosemary, roughness, Sea buckthorn oil, see fennel, seeds, shrub, skin texture, skin types, skincare, soreness, soybean oil, super charge, tetra vitamin C, tired, tired skin, toxins, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, wrinkles

Photo by munkhbayar dambajav

There are some ingredients – from caffeine to hyaluronic acid to aloe vera to clay – which you shouldn’t be surprised to find in your skincare. They’re commonly used in lotions and potions from the cheaper stuff to the higher end. Some ingredients, however, seem to pop up out of nowhere and sea buckthorn oil is popping up on ingredient lists everywhere for good reason – it can hydrate, brighten and improve skin texture, making it an ingredient that truly ticks all the boxes and can work for all skin types. 

While it may sound like something that comes from the ocean, sea buckthorn oil is extracted from the berries, leaves and seeds of the sea buckthorn plant, which is a small shrub that grows across northern Europe and some parts of Asia. As well as offering excellent hydration, sea buckthorn oil also helps to refine the skin’s texture and contains up to 12 times the amount of vitamin C as oranges, which brightens the complexion.

With this in mind, we’ve searched our shelves to show you a selection of the best sea buckthorn-containing products:

Elemis Musclease Active Body Oil

Elemis Musclease Active Body Oil is specially formulated for anyone with an active lifestyle. Its concentrated formula has ingredients to help ease sore spots and refresh the body. Sea buckthorn oil also protects the body against harmful toxins while sea fennel soothes inflammation and detoxifies the body. Rosemary loosens stiff joints and relieves sore muscles. Maritime pine improves circulation and reduces arthritic joint pain. The combination of oils is highly effective in offering relief from muscle pain and soreness. 

Evolve Organic Beauty Bio-Retinol+C Booster

Evolve Bio Retinol + C Booster is an innovative cocktail of vitamins which helps supercharge dull and tired skin by brightening the appearance of pigmentation, improving cellular turnover, boosting collagen and significantly improving all signs of ageing, tired skin. As well as sea buckthorn oil, it contains ingredients such as bakuchiol and tetra vitamin c to deliver a brighter, firmer, more nourished and renewed overall complexion.

REN Clean Skincare Bio Retinoid Youth Concentrate Oil

This lightweight moisturising serum contains a potent retinoid that works to support the skin’s natural collagen production and cell turnover, helping to smooth the complexion and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The addition of soybean and cottonseed oil work together to fortify the skin barrier, helping to reduce the irritation generally associated with retinol use, while sea buckthorn oil helps nourish, reduce roughness, and combat the dulling effects of dryness or dehydration, for a healthier-looking complexion.

UpCircle Cleansing Face Balm with Apricot Powder

This natural, sustainable balm from UpCircle is formulated for everyday cleansing, to gently remove makeup, pollution and impurities. It leaves skin deeply cleansed, soothed and hydrated and is suitable for all skin types. This cleansing balm is made with the finely-ground powder of discarded apricot stones, a natural by-product of the apricot oil industry and rich in antioxidant Vitamin E. It also contains sea buckthorn oil, which is high in vitamin E, C and Omega 7 fatty acids, and helps skin retain its elasticity. 

Medik8 Mutiny

This gel-like balm melts into an oil upon application to deliver instant and long-lasting hydration to your lips. Formulated in a squalane base, with plant-sourced sea buckthorn oil and multi-weight hyaluronic acid, the lip balm absorbs into lips to replenish lost lipids and leave lips feeling nourished, replenished and moisturised. Once applied to lips, the balm gives a slight refreshing tingle and an indulgent lemongrass natural fragrance.

5 Face Masks to Get Your Skin Through the Rest of Winter

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circulation, complexion, cuticles, decleor, Decleor Neroli Bigarade Oil Mask, deep, delicate, dry hands, dryness, Elemis, Elemis Exotic Cream Moisturising Mask, elemis exotic cream moisturising mask mimosa, Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Hair and Scalp Mask, Elemis Fruit Active Rejuvenating Mask, Elemis Pro-Collagen Hydra-Gel Eye Masks, extract, eye, fruit, gel, hair, heating, hyaluronic acid, intensive, January, kiwi, mask, masks, orange, overnight, plumped, revitalising, revive, say rocket, scalp, sensitive, skin, smoother, smoothing, strawberry, synthesis, wild pansy

Photo by Chris Knight on Unsplash

We all know that January can be a gruelling time for you skin. It’s often the coldest month of the year which means that every time we go outside our is dealing with the elements – then we go back indoors and are faced with central heating, which is a bad combination for our skin. Combine this with shorter days and a tendency to want to hibernate, hardly anyone can ever say that their skin is at its best in January. Masks are a fantastic product for reviving the skin at this time of year and regular usage of a targeted mask can help to ensure that by the time spring comes around and the sun starts to peek through the clouds, your complexion will have a rosy glow that is rarely seen at the end of winter. Here are 5 of our best masks for nourishing the skin, to give you a great start to 2020.

Elemis Exotic Cream Moisturising Mask

This mask from Elemis is made from exotic ingredients and works as a hydrating and soothing treatment. It takes the purest part of the therapeutic plant extracts from mimosa, sea rocket, orange and bergamot leaves, enriching the skin and evening out skin tone. It can be left on overnight as a more intensive treatment and can even be used on dry hands and cuticles if they are suffering the same dryness as your face.

Decleor Neroli Bigarade Oil Mask

This mask from Decleor melts into a fine oil as you massage into the skin, allowing more of the active ingredients to be absorbed into your complexion. It contains extracts of wild pansy which encourages hyaluronic acid synthesis, giving you a plumped, smoother and more youthful complexion in just 10 minutes of use.

Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Hair and Scalp Mask

It’s easy to forget about your scalp as it’s hidden beneath your hair, but many, many people suffer with dryness on their scalp as well as their hair, which is why Elemis invented this mask. It’s a 3-in-1 treatment that deep cleanses the scalp and hair, and can be used either in the shower or as an intensive overnight mask to revive the area. It removes build up and restores healthy looking shine while revitalising the scalp and hair

Elemis Fruit Active Rejuvenating Mask

If your skin is looking dull and tired, this rejuvenating mask from Elemis contains fruit extracts of strawberry and kiwi in a kaolin clay base, which will revive a sallow complexion. Apply to clean skin and leave on for 10 minutes, and your skin will look brighter and more radiant. It’s great for using while laying in the bath and Elemis tells us that it’s also great for smokers as it helps to enhance the circulation in your facial complexion.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Hydra-Gel Eye Masks

Darkness around the eyes is also a really common thing at this time of year, although many face masks aren’t suitable for use around the eyes. That’s why Elemis developed these eye masks which are formulated to instantly reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes, giving the delicate area a deep wash of moisture which will get rid of dark circles and tighten the skin. Each individual mask contains potent plankton extract, leaving the skin around the eyes intensity moisturised and instantly hydrated.

Say Goodbye to Puffiness Around Your Eyes

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ageing, circulation, collagen, cream, crows feet, dark circles, decleor, dehydration, delicate, dermalogica, Dermalogica Age Reversal Eye Complex, Dermalogica UltraSmoothing Eye Serum, Elemis, Elemis Absolute Eye Serum, Elemis Pro-Collagen Eye Renewal, eye, eye area, Eyes, fibres, fine lines, firm, firming, hydration, hyperpigmentation, lifting, nourish, nourishes, nourishment, particles, pearlescent, peptides, puffiness, puffy, renewal, sensitive, sensitive skin, skin, smooth, sodium laureht sulphate, spatula, tight, tighten, tightening, wrinkles

By Laitr Keiows (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

There are loads of reasons for puffiness around your eye area – tiredness, illness, stress and allergies are just a few of them. Puffiness around your eyes can make you look exhausted and far from your best, so finding a way to deal with it is a must. Fortunately, here at Pure Beauty, we have a whole load of products which can help to banish the puffiness around your eye area, and these are five of our favourites:

Dermalogica Age Reversal Eye Complex

This eye cream from Dermalogica is a real powerhouse of a product, tackling several different issues all at once. As well as dealing with puffiness, the complex also helps to remedy wrinkles, crow’s feet, dark circles due to hyperpigmentation and skin sensitivity due to dehydration. It’s ideal for drier skin or skin with is ageing prematurely and will totally revitalise the eye area.

Elemis Absolute Eye Serum

This eye serum from Elemis is all about the hydration, giving a wash of moisture around the eye area to decongest and tackle puffiness and dark circles. It conditions and nourishes the delicate eye contours, supports and tones the skin around the eyes and has a light texture that disappears immediately so that you can get on with applying your make up without having to wait for things to soak in.

Decleor Lift and Firm Eye Cream

As well as lifting and firming the area around the eyes, this cream from Decleor contains pearlescent particles which adds radiance to your skin. The peptides in the formula encourage circulation and re-energise the support fibres of your skin, which reduces puffiness and smooths wrinkles. It comes with a specially designed spatula to help you to apply the formula to the delicate eye area without causing ‘drag’, which can damage the delicate area.

Dermalogica UltraSmoothing Eye Serum

This eye serum comes from the Ultra Calming Dermalogica range, which means that it’s gentle on the skin and doesn’t contain any ingredients which might irritate the already-delicate eye area. It’s a potent but lightweight product which soaks evenly and quickly into the skin and gives immediate tightening and firming results. It’s perfect for those who suffer with sensitive skin but are trying to deal with the signs of premature ageing.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Eye Renewal

Elemis Pro-collagen products are notorious for their stunning effects and this eye renewal cream is no exception. It firms the area around the eyes, adding moisture and nourishment to the skin and obliterates dark circles and fine lines. It dramatically increases cell renewal and bears the Elemis Promise, so you can be sure that it doesn’t contain any sodium laureth sulphate or other nasties.

The good news about chocolate

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antioxidants, bad news, beauty routine, blood flow, blood sugar, brain, British Medical Journal, calories, chocolate, chocolate cake, circulation, cocoa, control your weight, Dr. Will Clower, Easter bunny, eatend, eggs, expectant mothers, Facebook, fat, Finland, good stuff, goodness, green tea, guilty, happy pills, Harvard Medical School, heart, hormones, insulin sensitivity, iron, KitKat, levels, lower blood-glucose levels, Mars bar, meal, memory decline, mini eggs, mugs, non-chocolate-eating parents, potassium, protect, RDA, researchers, scientists, selenium, sugar, Sun cream, sun damage, treat, trigger, two, win, zinc

The Easter bunny might be long gone, but it could be that you still have some chocolate eggs hanging around waiting to be eaten. Or not!

If you have and you are feeling guilty about finishing it off, we are here to tell you not to.

We have it from the powers that be, that chocolate is good for you.

Now, we aren’t talking about cramming down a family bag of mini eggs followed by a KitKat chaser, but as with most things, eating it in moderation doesn’t hurt.

It would seem that good quality, dark chocolate with a cocoa percentage of around 70% or more, can be good for the heart, circulation and brain, and could be beneficial for managing conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

Dark chocolate is full of health boosting minerals including potassium, zinc and selenium, and a 100g bar of the really good stuff provides 67 per cent of the RDA of iron – great for anyone looking to boost their iron intake!

Blood sugar levels are tricky to control but eating a square or two of dark chocolate can help maintain healthy levels of insulin sensitivity and turn this helps to lower blood-glucose levels. Win, win.

Research published in the British Medical Journal has suggested that eating a little dark chocolate could help lower the risk of developing heart disease by one-third, and that’s got to be worth considering?

Eating an entire chocolate cake with a side of Mars Bar isn’t going to help your waistline but, a little can help control your weight. The scientist, Dr. Will Clower, believes a small square of good chocolate melted on the tongue 20 minutes before eating a main meal triggers the hormones in the brain that says you are full. so you eat less. Think about it and finishing a meal with the treat and trigger could reduce subsequent snacking.

Apparently one mug of cocoa (using pure cocoa powder) has double the antioxidants of green tea and we think it tastes way better too. It is also worth noting that two mugs of cocoa may help keep the brain healthy and prevent memory decline, thanks to better blood flow. That’s according to scientists at Harvard Medical School, so it must be true.

Dark chocolate is jam-packed with the helpful flavonols that help to protect your skin against sun damage. You still need to layer on the sun cream but good to know that evening snack is helping your beauty routine.

Forget happy pills, if you want to feel good a little chocolate will boost your levels of dopamine, a natural painkiller, and serotonin, which produces feelings of pleasure. Eat up and feel the love.

We believe researchers in Finland found that chocolate reduced stress in expectant mothers, and that the babies of those mothers smiled more often than the offspring of non-chocolate-eating parents. Watch out for those new baby photos on Facebook to see who is snacking on chocolate.

The bad news! Yes, you know you couldn’t have it all. Sorry. However much goodness is packed onto a bar of chocolate, it is still pretty high in calories, fat and sugar – so make sure you eat in moderation if you want the good to outweigh the bad.

Team Pure Beauty